Sutherland Springs survivor cheers on the man who saved...

1of18Ryland Ward, 6, plays with Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan after Duncan threw out the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

2of18Julie Workman looks to Ryland Ward, 6, as she leads the children's Bible study at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Thursday, March 8, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

3of18Ryland Ward, 6, plays with Skyler Duncan, 2, the daughter, of Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan, before Rusty threw out the first pitch for the baseball game at Floresville High School.Photo: Lisa Krantz / San Antonio Express-News

4of18Ryland Ward, 6, followed by his aunt, Haley Ward, walks towards Ryan Holcombe, left, during the church dinner before the weekly Thursday night Bible study at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on March 8, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

5of18Ryland Ward, 6, looks towards his family as he stands with members of Floresville Little League teams and the Floresville High School baseball team as they wait for Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan to throw out the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

6of18Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan holds Ryland Ward, 6, after Duncan threw out the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. Duncan was honored in conjunction with Floresville Little League Night at the game.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

7of18Phillip Longoria, from left, Michael Ward, Leslie Ward, McKinley Ward, 10, Chris Ward and Benjamin Reed stand for the National Anthem before the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. The Ward family came out to cheer for Rusty Duncan, of the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department, who threw out the first pitch, part of Floresville Little League Night.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

9of18Kade Duncan, 8, talks to Ryland Ward, 6, after Duncan's father, Rusty Duncan, threw out the first pitch for the baseball game at Floresville High School on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. With them are Rusty's wife, Barbara Duncan, their son, Blake, 4, left, and daughter, Skyler, 2.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

10of18Ryland Ward, 6, waits with members of Floresville Little League teams to cheer on Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan, who was honored with throwing the first pitch, at Floresville High School on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

11of18Ryland Ward, 6, right, makes a face while talking to Aiden Reed, 10, left, as they wait with members of Floresville Little League teams to cheer on Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan, who was honored with throwing the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

12of18Ryland Ward, 6, plays with Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan after Duncan threw out the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

13of18Ryland Ward, 6, talks with Aiden Reed, 10, as they wait with members of Floresville Little League teams to cheer on Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan, who was honored with throwing the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

14of18Benjamin Reed picks up Ryland Ward, 6, during Floresville Little League Night at the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018. With them are Ryland's father, Chris Ward, left, and Chris' brother, Michael Ward, right.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

15of18Ryland Ward, 6, left, stands with members of Floresville Little League teams and the Floresville High School baseball team as they wait for Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan to throw out the first pitch for the Floresville High School baseball game at the school on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

16of18Ryland Ward, 6, center, walks with Ryan Holcombe, 9, to a building for the children's Bible study with Julie Workman at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on Thursday, March 8, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

17of18Ryland Ward, 6, puts his hand over his heart for the National Anthem as he stands with members of Floresville Little League teams to cheer on Stockdale Assistant Fire Chief Rusty Duncan, who was honored with throwing the first pitch, at Floresville High School on Tuesday, April 3, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

18of18Ryland Ward, 6, peeks out a window as he attends the weekly Thursday night dinner and Bible study at First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs on March 8, 2018.Photo: Lisa Krantz / SAN ANTONIO EXPRESS-NEWS

Carrying a light blue poster with colorful letters reading “Rusty you’re our hero,” Ryland Ward ran up to Rusty Duncan — his firefighter, hero, best friend — practically knocking into him before presenting his work of art.

Everyone chuckled: it was upside down.

“Gimme a hug,” said Duncan, assistant fire chief at the Stockdale Volunteer Fire Department, standing on the lawn adjacent to the Floresville High School baseball field as he hoisted the 6-year-old onto his hip.

The rambunctious, energetic little boy fell limp in his arms and whispered into Duncan’s ear, asking him for the umpteenth time this year if Duncan had brought his fire truck. (He hadn’t.)

Ryland, his father, Chris Ward, and their extended family cheered on Duncan with their homemade posters and occasional whoops as he threw the first pitch at the Floresville baseball game Tuesday night — a local honor often bestowed on law enforcement, said Troy Tackitt, board president of the local little league.

But since the November massacre in Sutherland Springs, it has extended to include families of victims and survivors.

And now, to Duncan, their local hero.

In the five months since gunman Devin Patrick Kelley opened fire at the First Baptist Church of Sutherland Springs, local schools and communities still are recovering, still doing everything they can to keep up a continuous flow of hope and love so all they’ve lost doesn’t consume them.

RELATED: Listen to our EnDepth podcast about Sutherland Springs here:

Duncan met Ryland when he rushed to the massacre. One of the first responders on the scene, Duncan was walking among the 26 dead and 20 wounded when he felt a tug at his pant leg.

He followed the small, pale hand to the little boy with glassy blue eyes and dusty red hair who had been shot five times by the gunman’s military-style rifle. Ryland was lying under his dead stepmother, JoAnn Ward. Nearby were his two sisters, Brooke and Emily, who later were pronounced dead.

Ryland was released from the hospital in January and driven home from San Antonio by Duncan in a firetruck. Ryland’s condition has drawn national attention, with thousands of Christmas cards and donations sent to him and his family from the world over, and a large procession when he left the hospital.

“Happiness. That’s all I see whenever they’re together,” said Barbara Duncan, observing her husband and Ryland, who is considered the newest addition to the Duncan family.

Ryland wore a maroon jersey with a No. 1 on Tuesday, which was given to him when he threw the first pitch at the March 24 little league game, along with four other survivors of the massacre: Evelyn and Phillip Hill, and James and Hailey McNulty. They all were named honorary members of the Floresville Little League.

It also was Little League Night, so Ryland followed the players when they went onto the field before the game, keeping up with them by employing a well-worn skip to accommodate for his bullet-shattered left leg, which is shorter than his right leg and still can’t quite bend at the knee.

But he zooms around, endlessly entertained by the world around him and fiercely independent — to the point where his dad was frequently holding onto his black cowboy hat in one hand and trying to snag Ryland in the other.

“He will take off and be gone,” Duncan said, recalling a time when he took Ryland to the movies and barely made it 10 minutes in before being whisked on various Ryland-inspired adventures, from buying more cotton candy to finding tape to fix the colostomy bag that hangs below his waist.

A few weeks ago, that bag turned bright red and his father rushed him to the emergency room. Doctors immediately began testing the liquid, only to discover that the bag wasn’t red from blood, but from the copious amount of gummy worms Ryland had gotten into earlier that day.

Unfazed by the revelation, Ryland just grabbed syringes filled with water and began squirting them at people, his father and his uncle Michael Ward said, laughing at the memory of his mischievousness.

“I never thought it’d be like this,” said Chris Ward, who looks and dresses like his brother Michael but presents a more reserved, soft-spoken demeanor.

As much as Ryland has become a part of the Duncan family, Duncan has become a part of the Wards’.

“If it wasn’t for Rusty, Ryland wouldn’t be here,” said Michael Ward.

“Well, there were a lot of people involved,” Duncan said sheepishly.

“He’s just a great guy. For what he’s done, and what he’s going to do,” Chris Ward said.

Duncan and a team of local contractors and construction companies are joining forces to build Chris and Ryland a new home. Chris already gave a new name to the homestead where the new place will be built: “Three Angels Ranch,” after his two daughters and wife who were killed in the massacre, Duncan said.

Chris can’t bear the thought of living in their old home — too many memories. He had begun trying to fix up the house on their homestead while staying elsewhere when Duncan had a better idea.

“I thought, instead of putting money into it, why don’t we find people who want to be a part of this? A part of something big?,” Duncan said. “Ryland’s here for something big.”

They’re hoping to build the new house in a month’s time, and are having an organizational meeting next week to hammer out the final details of the plan and set a start date.

“I just want Ryland to grow up and be happy,” Duncan said. “You have to have a foundation to start, and it’s like he’s restarting his life now.”

Silvia Foster-Frau is the immigration reporter for the San Antonio Express-News and is the paper’s lead reporter on the Sutherland Springs mass shooting, which was the 5th deadliest in the country at the time of the attack in November 2017.

She grew up in Galesburg, Illinois, and took a gap year to live in Mexico after high school before attending Grinnell College. She graduated with a bachelor’s in English in 2015. Silvia interned at Minnesota Public Radio, wrote in English and Spanish for the bilingual Chicago newspaper Extra News, and in 2015 won the two-year Hearst Journalism Fellowship. She reported in Connecticut for a year and then moved to San Antonio in 2016.

In 2018 she won the Express-News’ Reporter of the Year award and Texas AP’s Michael Brick Storytelling Award. In 2019 she won Texas AP Star Reporter of the Year in the biggest newspaper category.

Silvia is half Puerto Rican and half Iowan. She loves breakfast tacos, frequently says “y’all” and keeps a stash of cascarones at her desk, so it’s safe to say she’s fully embraced the San Antonio way.